Your Touch
by SunshineBum
Summary: When one lives in a world full of people with quirks all you can hope for is that your developing quirk would be hero material. That's all every kid wanted to be, a hero; however, not everyone's wishes come true.
1. Prologue

"She doesn't have a quirk?" Asked the mother rather shocked. "How can that be? My other children have their own quirks. It's said that their quirks are sometimes based after their parent's, right? My husband and I have very strong and reliable quirks. This should be nearly impossible." Her tone shifted from shock to sheer concern.

The doctor rifled through her family file before shaking his head, "Scientifically, it should be near impossible, but so was having a quirk up until a few decades ago." He put down the file and took his reading glasses off, "With you being an electricity user and your husband being able to bend any type of terrain she should have inherited some form or a combination of those two, Mrs. Yabe."

Mrs. Yabe looked down at the five-year-old sitting in her lap. Her child sat stiffly looking at the toy in her hands. "But- Dr. Furukawa, you've seen my quirk in use, right? Just look, maybe she just doesn't know how to use it yet," Mrs. Yabe raised her hand, but Dr. Furukawa saw nothing happen. This had earned a gasp from the older woman and had piqued the man's interest. "That should have made the power go out-" she trailed off. Dr. Furukawa eyed the small child. Her eyes were narrowed as she clutched her toy with small fists. Mrs. Yabe saw this and set her child down to stand up. "Dr. Furukawa," the mother gaped, "..do you think-?"

"Yes," he replied standing up, then crouching to the girl's level. Dr. Furukawa had a quirk that allowed him to perform x-rays and he attempted to look at the child's skeleton, but all he saw was her brown hair in pigtails and her lips pulling into a frown. "Nurse Oshiro!" He called out looking towards the room's closed door.

He stood up straight as the door swung open, "Yes, Dr. Furukawa? Did you need something?" She asked peeping through the door.

"Use your quirk," He ordered without so much as an explanation. The nurse didn't question him and merely locked eyes on the girl's doll. Her quirk had the ability to animate anything, but here she couldn't do a thing. "Oshiro, are you trying?" asked her superior.

Nurse Oshiro then looked to the doctor's thermometer on the counter, yet nothing happened again, "Doctor, I am very concerned right now."

"Don't be," he smiled, "that's just this child's quirk," he replied with a satisfied huff as he looked at the mother. "Your daughter is a quirk eraser. Just like the new pro hero Eraser Head."

The mother stared at the doctor with a slack jaw. This quirk was odd. It didn't line up with any of the quirks her other kids had. Her two other children had similar quirks to her and her husband. Despite that, she was happy her daughter had a quirk. "That's stupid," blurted a soft voice. Mrs. Yabe gasped and looked down at her daughter. "It's a stupid quirk," she said with narrowed eyes.

"Souseiki Yabe!" Shouted her mother. With her mother's warning, Souseiki shut her mouth. "This is good news! You're not quirk-less!"

Dr. Furukawa smiled at the two females and said, "It is wonderful news. A quirk that nullifies others is a great defense mechanism, especially for a girl."

"You're right. I didn't think of that," smiled the mother now knowing even with such a quirk her daughter would not come into harm's way. "This is amazing news, thank you."


	2. Chapter 1

Souseiki Yabe walked along the street kicking a stone along the sidewalk. Her gaze focused on the terrain. She silently hoped the concrete would shift in some way, but nothing came of it. Instead, those with quirks that physically changed their appearance lost it for mere seconds as she passed by. A man who had red, scaly skin from afar stood shocked as he noticed his skin turn a slight tan color as she passed by, but it quickly turned back after she turned a corner.

Her hands held tightly onto the straps of her backpack as she looked up and realized she had entered an alley. "Oh," she mumbled staring at the rock she was kicking and turned back around. Her shoes scraped along the sidewalk as she exited the alley. "I should get home," she mumbled to herself. Mrs. Yabe was never really concerned for her safety, especially with the quirk she had, no one was brave enough to attack anyone without the use of their quirk these days. Despite that, Mrs. Yabe still wanted to have her daughter home early.

The girl would have continued walking home, but then there was a scream. A loud, heart-wrenching scream. The sound filled her ears and made her skin crawl. "We need a hero!" Someone screamed off in the distance. Hearing such an announcement Souseiki new she just had to stick around longer now. She padded back and looked around through the alley's to see where the commotion was going on. Her tracks quickly stopped. No group was formed and there was no villain. The call for help was definitely for a different situation, but another odd situation caught her eye.

Just down an alley across the street, she saw a teen boy around her age. He was dressed in all black with dismembered hands grasping onto his arms and face. He was dragging his feet along the street. Souseiki couldn't help but watch him as he made his way to a porch where two older men stood drinking a bottle of booze. "The hell are you, man?" Spoke one of the men loudly.

"That's creepy as shit, man. The hell do you want?" Shouted the other in shock as they all watch the man with dismembered hands reach out his own. The two men put their hands up ready to pick a fight, but Souseiki gasped loudly as she watched the two men were shrouded in darkness, then burst into nothing.

The blue-haired teen turned his head eerily slow and looked at the girl between the hand's fingers. She stared back at his dark eyes. The murdering teen ran across the street quickly and clasped her head in his hands, but nothing happened. His eyes widened staring straight into the girl's. "What-" he trailed off. His fingers shook as he slowly released his grip on Souseiki. "What the fuck?"

"Don't take it personal," Souseiki said with anxious words. "My quirk nullified your own. Everyone becomes normal with me," she said as she stared at the murderous boy, who stared at his own hand. Souseiki quickly shoved her hands against the boy's chest. The second he lost his balance she ran off in the direction of her neighborhood. Various times she looked back but didn't see the blue-haired boy. This realization didn't stop her from running; however, it made her run faster.

By the time she reached her home, Souseiki's lungs burned. Her hand was to her chest as if it would help and her inhales were sharp. "Honey!" Shouted Mrs. Yabe as she peered around the kitchen's entrance. "You're home. Did you run?" She asked soon concerned as she walked out while wiping her hands dry with a washcloth. "Souseiki, you look like you've seen death," she commented as she set the back of her hand on her daughter's forehead.

"I'm fine," Souseiki responded swatting away her mom's hand. "Just saw some villain do something horrible,"

exhaled, "With his quirk?" The young girl nodded. "Did a hero get there?" She shook her head. "Why didn't you hold the villain down or stay near them, Souseiki? You could have helped. Nothing would have happened to you,"

The young Yabe's brows knitted together before she briskly walked past her mom. "Thanks for the concern," she mumbled under her breath.

Her mom followed her quickly and attempted to explain herself, "I'm just saying, sweetie! You need to be more out there! That's what makes a great hero." Mrs. Yabe stopped at her daughter's bedroom door and watched as she dropped her backpack at the foot of her white wooden desk. "Use Mrs. Bakugou's kid, for example, he's what, four years younger than you? That little walking grenade has the confidence of a male peacock! He has so many friends and little followers at his age."

"Congrats to him!" Souseiki huffed as she turned sitting at her desk and bring out a notebook, "I'd like to also mention that you're comparing me to an eleven-year-old!"

Mrs. Yabe sucked her teeth and rubbed her temples. "You're not understanding my point, Souseiki."

"I am. Let me make this clear. He has a quirk. He can easily beat someone. I have my fists and that's it." Seeing as she wouldn't get through to her daughter, Mrs. Yabe turned on her heel and returned to finish dinner.


	3. Chapter 2

By the following morning, Souseiki was in her school uniform once again and sitting in class. Her teeth lightly bit at the end of her eraser as she stared at a worksheet. The numbers were starting to bore her after three mere problems. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked up and around the classroom to see everyone with their heads bowed and looking at their own worksheets. Her eyes then wandered to the classroom's window. The tree's leaves slowly floated to the ground and birds fluttered from one branch to the next. It was a beautiful day.

That serene feeling was short-lived as she felt the atmosphere quickly turn dark. Souseiki felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. All she could think was that someone was staring at her. The brunette's eyes fluttered around the room, but again she saw everyone staring at their work. Again, her eyes scanned outside and saw nothing wrong. Relief washed over her as the feeling left, and she soon returned to working on her math problems.

Once the student body was dismissed for the day, Souseiki began gathering her items and setting them inside her backpack. That itching feeling that someone was closely watching her earlier returned off and on throughout the day, but she never caught sight of who could have been keeping tabs on her. The possible culprits rushed through her mind, but maybe it was just her imagination. She was boring after all and so was her quirk. She swore there was nothing interesting; henceforth, no one would be trying to make heads or tails about her life.

This thought process continued on as she walked out of the school's building. Her friends were long gone and all she could think of to do was take the long way home once again. Obviously, a different route this time. She knew there was no need to walk through that side of town when all it brought her was unwanted trouble. The new plan was to start walking through the crowded city. Hopefully, a cute cafe or window shopping would ease her mind after the long school day.

Stepping into downtown, Souseiki inhaled deeply and gave a grateful exhale. The air downtown always smelt like a fresh bakery. The aroma wafted into her nostrils and stayed there. It was exhilarating. If she had the time, and the stomach, the brunette would have spent her entire day walking from bakery to bakery in an attempt to taste every pastry there was.

Here it was crowded, especially around these hours. The place seemed to have been invaded by teenagers who had nothing better to do, so here they were. It would have been a normal day and a normal time if villains didn't exist. Normal was now the fact that any pedestrian could violently be pulled by the collar into an empty street.

The man's screech rang through the streets, causing everyone's ears to perk up and heroes to spring into action. Mrs. Yabe's advice spun in the teenager's brain like a broken record. She held onto her book bag's strap tightly and watched the crowd form. Her quirk could help, but would that be considered meddling with a case? Souseiki took a step forward to join the commotion. Depending on the hero that had arrived maybe her presence could be of some use. Despite willing her body to move forward, someone seemed to have different plans. Slender fingers wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back. She let out a soft yelp as her back met with a person's torso and an arm wrapped around her waist. She looked back surprised at the sight. Behind her stood the teenage boy with blue tresses. The dismembered hands he had before were absent this time around. Souseiki eyed his chapped lips as they parted, "Don't scream," he muttered.

"I wasn't going to," she replied looking down at the hand wrapped around her. One finger was raised as the rest harshly gripped onto her skin. "Let go…please," Souseiki cursed at herself as her voice left her. She needed it to sound more confident in this kind of situation!

The teenager spun around so he was holding her arm behind her back. A groan came from the girl as he shoved her, "We're going to chat for a bit," he assured as they turned into the city's back streets.

The young Yabe trudged forward slowly with her nose high in the air in an attempt to come off as confident and brave. Her brown eyes darted from left to right to find a way out, but all around were mere walls and large dumpsters. A thought crossed her mind though if she were to stop suddenly maybe that would stun him. Scenarios from slapping him to kicking him between the legs flashed in her mind's eye, yet she couldn't muster the courage. Doubt walked in after every possible outcome. Maybe she'd miss or she wasn't strong enough. Maybe any second would be too late and a buddy would appear to help him. Yet following doubt was her mother's angry shouts, "What the hell are you doing?! Fight! Be a hero!" The words echoed as she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Souseiki quickly stepped back into a squat and jabbed her shoulder into his stomach. With the little energy she had stored in her, Souseiki rolled him into the asphalt. Such a move; however, caused her to fall beside him. Both lay in the alley panting through the pain. Slowly, Souseiki peeled her eyes open and dropped her head to the side. There next to her was the blue-haired boy carefully pushing himself off the ground. Seeing such recovery, she scrambled to her feet, yet she didn't run. If he could quickly get up from that meek assault, then he'd be able to get to her in no time. She wasn't too keen on how far his quirk could travel, so it was better to keep him in her bubble rather than runoff. So Souseiki watched as he stood up. "We can talk right here," she blurted as she adjusted her school bag on her shoulder. "You can't kill me, okay? You already tried and it didn't work!"

"Don't be so loud," he rasped out. "I'm just looking for an explanation. Nothing too deep."

The brunette's eyes quickly set in a glare as he lifted his arm high in the air, but they eased once his arm landed on the back of his head. "Who are you?" Maybe knowing his name would give her an edge. If anything were to happen then maybe she could do a bit of research. Better yet, alert the right authorities. "What's your name, damn it!" Souseiki insisted when a reply wasn't given fast enough.

A sigh escaped his lips as his own eyes narrowed "Shigaraki. Look, I just want to know more about your quirk."

Souseiki's muscles eased at the explanation. "Is that it?" She asked rather nonchalantly. It was as if she hadn't just been dragged into the alley by a man she saw murder someone the day before. "You could have asked that without all…this," she said moving her arms around to gesture at their current situation.

Shigaraki laughed and took a step forward, "You saw me obliterate someone the other day. Something told me you wouldn't just willingly stop and have a short chat with me,"

Something in her brain finally connected yesterday and right now because a frown instantly pulled her lips down as she nodded in agreement, "That is true."

"You didn't tell anyone about what you saw. Why?" He asked her out of curiousity.

Souseiki stiffened and seeing such body language he raised a brow. Under such a bold statement she became a stuttering mess, "But how would… There's no way-" she tripped over her words and watched as the man raised his shoulders and let them fall. She knew deep down in her gut that someone was watching her the entire morning, but she dismissed it as paranoia, but here stood the stalker of the hour.

Shigaraki let out another sigh, "Watching you isn't exactly the worst thing I've done in the past few days. So are you going to answer the question or not?" he deadpanned.

Before the conversation could be continued a large explosion was heard from behind Souseiki. The trouble that had occurred early popped into their heads as Souseiki whipped around to see fire and smoke. Her dark eyes scanned the area in fear, "What's going on?" She mumbled as she took a step back closer to Shigaraki.

A series of explosions soon followed and were quickly heading in their direction. Shigaraki, with haste, reached for the brunette's arm and began dragging her along through the alleys. It had taken Souseiki a few steps before she began to run at his side. Death felt imminent as they rounded corners and the explosions just kept getting closer. Souseiki kept looking back and wishing she could call for a hero, but that would be of no help. If a hero did decide to come anywhere close to them they would be in the same boat. "Keep up!" Shouted Shigaraki as he yanked her closer.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Shouted the girl over the ear-splitting explosions. Due to the detonations, the question didn't seem to reach him but was answered as he turned a corner. There they faced a cellar door. He pulled the hatch open and dragged her down before closing it behind them. The explosions could be heard in the dark and the light from it seeped through the cracks.

"We should be safe here while it eases out," he muttered as he flicked the lights on. He looked to Souseiki as she tried to catch her breath, then his eyes flickered down to his hand holding onto her wrist with his index finger still raised so it wouldn't touch her. "Your quirk," he said breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Souseiki said once her breathing evened out. She looked to him and saw his attention on their hands. "You hold things funny," she voiced. "But I'm guessing it has to do with your quirk," Souseiki reached for his hand and put his finger down so all five digits were grasping her wrist. "Nothings going to happen whether you want it to or not," she stated as he looked up and into her brown eyes.

Shigaraki gestured Souseiki to turn around. In doing so she was met with a fully furnished room. For a cellar, it seemed quite well taken care of. The walls were a pretty champagne white while decorated in picture frames that showcased an assortment of family pictures. In the center of the room was a coffee table and two gray love seats on opposite ends. Souseiki walked towards the couch and sat down while Shigaraki sat on the opposite one facing her. "So you have an erasing quirk like Eraserhead?" He asked leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

With the shake of her head, she responded, "Yes and no?" in the form of a question, prompting the red-eyed boy to raise an eyebrow in question. "Eraserhead can choose who's quirk he can erase from a good distance. I can't do that. You have to be near me in order for your quirk to erase. Then there's the matter that he can't erase a quirk that physically changes a person while I can," she said in one breath. "Because of the last part, I like to say my quirk reverts a human back to "normal" as some may call it. You know, a simple primate."

"That's interesting. So right now I-"

Souseiki hummed and shook her head again, "Yep, can't use your quirk." She got up and walked back to the entrance of the cellar. "From there you can," Her hand rifled through her bag and tossed him and eraser. The second he caught it he opened his palm to let the ash fall to the ground. The brunette looked up to the entrance, then back to him, "So is that all, Shigaraki?"

"Your name," he demanded as he kept his gaze on her.

A smile crept onto her lips as she shrugged, "Souseiki. Pleased to meet you, villain."


	4. Chapter 3

Sunday had finally rolled by and Souseiki laid in bed scrolling through her phone. It had been three days since she had the encounter with the significantly unknown villain. She had made it her mission to look him up and see if he ever made the news, but nothing came up. He had no social media account and seemed to not exist in any school roster she looked up online. He had to be enrolled in a school since he was around her age, right? All fifteen-year-olds are in their second year at least, but he was nowhere to be found. "This is pissing me off," she muttered to herself as she dropped her phone onto her pillow and kicked off her covers.

She made her way to the restroom in order to start her day. Once refreshed she changed into a mere white blouse with a floral pattern and denim shorts. Souseiki walked out to the living room where she found her mother. "Good morning, you," her mother chirped as she looked away from the television screen. Her mom's hair was up in a bun and her hands were tightly wrapped around a mug that had steam rising from it.

"Good morning," replied Souseiki as she walked to the front door to put her shoes on. "I'm going to get the paper," she said walking out.

The weather was clear and sunny as she stepped out of her home. She smiled and stretched her arms out. It felt peaceful until she heard children bickering. "Move it, quirk-less!" Sounded a voice. The girl's face soon turned sour as she looked out beyond her fence to see her neighbor, Bakugou, harassing one of his friends once again. Since she could remember he had always been on Midoriya's case after he found out he didn't have a quirk.

"Ka-chan, I didn't-" trembled the green-haired boy's voice.

Before Midoriya could finish a sentence the rabid boy, that is Bakugou, lifted his hand and screamed, "Die!" But nothing happened. Seeing this outcome, Bakugou's head snapped in the direction of the Yabe residence. There, at the fence, stood Souseiki waving at the two with the day's newspaper in hand. "Get out of here, you useless trash! Can't you see I'm dealing with something?"

The girl gave a smirk as she stared at the two, "Good morning to you too," her attention then shifted to Midoriya as he slowly backed up towards her. "Morning, Midoriya," she greeted, "What's going on today?"

The stuttering mess of a boy replied with, "I accidentally bumped into him. It was an accident."

With a nod she looked back to Bakugou, "It was an accident, ya hear? Stop being an ass," she remarked as the blonde began throwing profanities left and right at the two.

"I wouldn't act so tough when you have such a lame quirk!" He said loudly.

Souseiki laughed as she looked at her heated neighbor and inquired, "What about you? Right now you don't have one at all!" With that being said the boy went on an entire tangent about how he was better than the two, but he was ignored. A large lightbulb went off as she turned to Midoriya. "Hey, you like studying quirks, right?" She smiled remembering he always carried a book with Pro Heroes' quirks and their techniques.

"Yeah, I do," he beamed smiling at her.

"This is going to sound odd, but have you heard of any pros fighting someone with a quirk that decays?"

Midoriya stood there with a pensive look on his face. "Not that I know of," he said shaking his head, "Why?"

Souseiki shrugged, "Just thought I saw someone with a quirk like that, but maybe I was just seeing things," she lied. "I'll see you two around. Bye, nerd!" She said waving to the blonde as she made her way back into the house. Her eyes scanned the paper for more news on her new friend, but once again there was nothing but talk of the explosions she had been caught up in. They had been caused by a villain with a quirk that allowed him to project bombs and he had used this in order to flee a robbery attempt. Souseiki sucked her teeth at the lack of information and tossed the paper beside her mom.

"Why so fussy?" Questioned Mrs. Yabe as she looked back at her daughter. "You should go out and train. At least learn how to fight properly," She said nonchalantly. "Your brothers are already in internships. The least you could do is train and try to get into a good profession."

Such unsolicited remarks made the teen's blood boil. Souseiki eyed her mother with her lips pulled down in a frown. "Sure," she muttered. The young brunette knew it was useless to bicker with someone so unmoving. "I'm going out then," with that response she trudged back out the door.

The day was peaceful so far, but all she did was walk aimlessly. The training wasn't in her plans at all. Souseiki had a pretty good idea that she wouldn't become a hero from the second she took the entrance exam to enter the UA hero course. She failed and here she was now as a normal student at a normal school. What would have been the point in putting in extra work? No hero agency would bother taking in someone who wasn't groomed by UA. Besides, an erasing quirk? It was like having no quirk in her opinion.

Just thinking about it riled her up. From having such a simple quirk to being forced to try and enter some prestigious hero academy. It was irritating. "Assholes," she muttered cursing her parents. They tried hard to get the girl to become an honorable hero, but it just wasn't meant to be.

During her aimless walk, Souseiki managed to arrive at the mall courtyard. Her brown eyes scanned the stores' window displays before stopping at a particular shop. She walked closer and eyed a table full of cute home decoration. A small, pale pink elephant caught her eye. With delicate hands, she picked it up and awed at its beauty in the sunlight. This would make a beautiful addition to her desk. Maybe it would have if a bast hadn't hit her.

Without warning, she flew back as an incredible force racked her entire body. The momentum of the attack had her rolling until she clashed with patio furniture in the courtyard. "Told you it would work!" Cackled a masculine voice from afar.

Souseiki whimpered in her spot on the ground. Her sore arms tried to push herself up, but with each effort, she slipped to the ground. "Fuck," she whimpered as tears threatened to spill. Pain surged through her limbs as she looked up to see a man alongside a girl staring straight at her. The girl's lips were curled back in a wicked smile as she stomped a foot on the pavement.

Another strong, invisible force of energy attacked the brunette and sent her flying once again. The two began walking closer towards her as the civilians that were close by screamed for a hero. "You're the hero Flux's daughter, aren'tcha?!" Spat the man with the deepest hatred.

Hearing the hero name, Souseiki shook, but couldn't reply. Her head was bowed to the pavement as tears fell. Every inch of her body burned from the impact. She turned her head and through the curtain of hair, she eyed the two. That was her father they named.

Closer. She needed them to come closer. Why weren't these idiots coming closer? Where were the heroes?

"You know what Flux did?" Questioned the lilac-haired girl with psionic blasts. "He's a hero, he's supposed to save people-" Souseiki groaned, but this time it was out of annoyance rather than pain. This woman's words seemed endless as she described the job heroes were supposed to perform. "Flux killed my.."

"I don't care," muttered Souseiki quietly.

The female stopped her monologuing. The two stared at her with glares that could kill. Their brows knitted and their lips pulled down into a frown. "Are you mocking us? You're going to die! You should be begging, you and your useless quirk should be begging for your life!"

From her spot on the ground, the brunette remained silent at the remark. Her mother's words ran through her head about training and not to worry about villains, yet here she lay being unable to move. It was comical.

"Tch, fuck this," cursed the man as he held out his hand. Souseiki closed her eyes as she saw a colorful light charge at the palm of his hand. A cacophony sounded, but no pain reached her body this time around. A broad spectrum of colors destroyed the building structure to her left. From the looks of it, the attack was redirected.

"Satoru! You fucking missed!" Roared the female's voice. "She was right the-" her voice then cut off before a shriek filled the air, then that too was cut short.

Due to the destruction, the area was now filled with smoke and debris. Large fragments of the mall were resting around her. By some miracle, not one managed to crush her during the wreckage. After hernia little to no bickering from the avenging fools, Souseiki peered up at the damage. Ahead of her, she saw two dark figures approaching. "Took you heroes long enough," she quipped with a ghost of a smirk.

"Guess again," rasped a voice.


	5. Chapter 4

Every nerve ending in Souseiki's body screamed for relief. The amount of pain she felt even after a day was immense and merciless. Her thoughts frequently visited that moment when Shigaraki appeared out of the soot and debris. Her blood boiled at the thought; he should have just left her there if he and his buddy didn't have anyone that could properly heal her wounds. The only remedy she had here for her muscles were sweltering, soul-sucking baths. "Shit, fuck, ow ow ow…ah," Souseiki whined before giving a satisfied sigh. Her body was now submerged in the burning water as she reminisced on the previous day's events.

_Their presence surprised her, to say the least. Souseiki wasn't exactly waiting for a villainous duo to barge into an already chaotic situation and become her heroes. This guy in particular, who she thought she would never cross paths with again, but despite it all Souseiki let out a sigh of relief she didn't even know she was holding in. "Look at me," Shigaraki stated wanting her attention. "We're moving fast, so I need you to haul ass too," he demanded. "Kurogiri!"_

_ With the simple shout of his name, the man has used his quirk and dropped the female assailant next to Souseiki. The brunette's eyes widened in fear as she saw the unconscious body sprawl at her side. "What are you going to do?" Souseiki gulped. Her arms were finally moving again and attempted to push her up into her feet. With trembling legs, she took shaky steps towards her newfound hero. Without warning, Shigaraki ripped a good amount of her top and painfully jerked at her hair stripping a fair amount of strands out._

_ Despite the harrowing protests being shouted by the brunette he left her side and brought the items beside the girl, "This should work," he uttered to himself, but before any more actions could be taken he turned due to an odd feeling in his gut telling him to do so. His eyes met brown ones. They watched him intently as if in doing so they would learn a new trade or something of value. "Send her home," He said without breaking eye contact. A black fog slowly enveloped her body and pulled her back into it until she was out of sight. _

_ Kurogiri stood with arms akimbo as he stood behind Shigaraki staring at the "I could drop some stone and debris on top-"_

_ Shigaraki shook his head and began running his nails against the flesh of his neck, "DNA..that would be no good," he muttered, If I decay the body enough," His verbal thoughts ceased as he squatted down and placed his hand on the girl's face with a vice-like grip. "Piece of shit- causing an entire scene," he said with each word coated in venom._

_ The second man stood behind and watched as the body slowly deteriorated before his very eyes. The stench of decaying skin assaulted his nostrils, but it was evident that such an atrocious fetter did not bother the teenager one bit. The two watched as the body slowly decayed to the point of being a simple, unrecognizable lump. Shigaraki released his grip and stepped on the tatter of cloth he had ripped off Souseiki's top. He ground it into the dirt before stepping back and looking at Kurogiri. A dark, menacing fog formed above the decayed body, debris and stone came raining down on top of the body as they disappeared as well._

Hours after Shigaraki had stepped in with a misty figure and fished her out of the area the media swarmed in like flies to shit and started questioning the few witnesses. Souseiki watched all the commotion go down via television. The reporter's brows were knitted in concern as she told the story of the Pro-Hero Flux's daughter bravely standing up against the villain that had a vendetta against her father. "No one knew who she was at first until the assailant spoke up. The villain relentlessly attacked her even after seeing she was a defenseless, quirkiness, teenager." On the screen, detectives, her father, and two brothers could be seen looking through the rumble for any kind of clue as to her whereabouts. Nothing was found until her father shifted the terrain and under a pile of stones were tatters of her clothes and a few strands of hair.

With the planted evidence and lack of actual eyewitnesses near the end of the bout, forensic analyst, along with side detectives, determined Yabe Souseiki to be deceased. This message sent the media into a larger frenzy. From noon until midnight all news outlets were about, "The young and quirkiness violently murdered."

Souseiki lowered herself into the bath and blew bubbles into the water out of frustration. "Hello? Have you actually died in there, Yabe Souseiki?" Drawled a smooth voice after a knock boomed through the bathroom. The young girl stayed quiet and glared at the end of the bathtub. "Shigaraki Tomura, I fear-"

The addressed teenager glanced at the mist man from down the hall. "Leave her alone," he said before eyeing the old television set that was adjacent to him on the counter. "Everyone thinks she's dead. But I don't know if she'll go along with it."

A deep voice came from the television set and spoke, "Yabe Souseiki. She's the repressed daughter of Flux. On social media, she attempted to hide she openly expresses distaste for her home life, especially her parents who would insist she trains her physical strengths to become a Pro. Mere conflicting viewpoints separated this family, but if anything Souseiki is still young with a malleable conscience. This will work out perfectly if she is given the right incentive. It is now your duty to bring Yabe Souseiki to the conclusion that staying with us is in her best interest." With that being said the television went dark and the two men sat in utter silence.

Shigaraki's head lulled back. His red eyes squinting up at the dim lights. "We should have just let her be," Kurogiri said calmly as he stood at the end of the bar's counter.

Hearing such verbiage caused the teenager's gaze to snap in his direction. "I need her alive," he spoke as his hand reached for his neck and began scratching, "You don't understand, we need her alive," his voice slowly been to rise, "She's an essential part to this game. Without her, we'll get a game over before we even meet the first boss. Shut up if you don't understand the necessity," he spewed out as the scratching became more intense and left behind deep angry marks.

"My apologies Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri apologized. He quickly turned and stopped at the restroom door once again and knocked.

Irritated Shigaraki stood up and shouted, "I said leave her alone!"

"I really need to go-" he said meekly as he dropped his arm.


	6. Chapter 5

"Why would you do that?" Quivered her voice.

Shigaraki stared back at her and tilted his head, "Huh?" He genuinely didn't know what she was on about.

With eyes closed, she let out a sigh to settle her nerves. All while she chanted a small encouraging mantra to herself, Shigaraki stared at her. When a quick response wasn't given he always seemed to reach a point of anger, but such an emotion didn't reach him this time around. Watching Souseiki try to calm herself seemed to bring him a slice of peace. It was oddly satisfying watching the girl try to ease herself into a more halcyon state of mind. Finally, she opened her eyes, a determined shine reflecting in them this time. "Why would you go to the trouble of making people believe I'm dead?" She asked as if it was something she had been reciting in her head this entire time.

The tranquil atmosphere that held him mere seconds ago vanished into thin air when those words were spoken. A confused expression now darkened his face. "You don't like your family," he deadpanned. This was a known fact to him. Souseiki Yabe had an account under the handle QuirklessLeech on a website dedicated to posting rants and anonymously leaving secrets. The majority of her posts were about her mother's nagging, her father's lack of presence and parental guidance, then her brothers' narcissistic personalities. Wouldn't she want to get away from such a household?

Souseiki's features stiffened, her eyes ran over his face, then his eyes as if she were in search of a telltale. Surely he had to be joking with her. What she questioned most of all was his source, but at the moment that didn't much matter. "Shigaraki," the addressed male stiffened at the sound of his name, "People hate things!" She said a little louder as she threw her hands in the air exasperated. "I hate school, but I'm not going to blow up the entire building. I hate the way my friends' chew their food with their mouths open, but I'm not going to rip their jaws out." She said in one quick breath. Souseiki took another deep breath afterward to calm down, "My parents are too much and my brothers are the crowned kings of assholes, but I love the-"

"Is that why you wrote: "Fuck, my dad's such a self-absorbed sack of shit. I get it you're a fucking spandex-wearing hero with an entire tree trunk stuck up your ass. That's no reason to attack every single thing you see me do. It would be so satisfying to rip his vocal-chords out and strangle him with them." Doesn't sound very loving of you," spoke Kurogiri with a phone in one hand.

Shigaraki felt laughter shake his body, but didn't let it surface as he watched those soft brown eyes turn into the size of flying saucers. His red ones then gazed at the way she opened and closed her mouth. Small, incoherent words started, then stopped themselves from continuing. It reminded him of pausing and unpausing a video game really fast. He watched on and soon a grin was tugging at his lips as he finally heard her find some words, "That wasn't me!"

Kurogiri cleared his throat and read out loud the following post, "Stop stop stop breathing. For Christ's sake, drop dead right now. Why wasn't I born with a quirk that could make that happen right now? I loathe this bitch." The misty figure looked up and stared into those wide eyes, "That was posted the next day."

"I'm starting to like this," mused Shigaraki as he rested his head on the back of his hand. The grin widening as he looked to Souseiki with such dark eyes. "That hatred really does run deep," he cooed.

"You're making something out of nothing. Those aren't even mine." She said with her nose held high, but such faux confidence never reached her eyes.

Kurogiri held up the cellphone to reveal to Souseiki that it was, in fact, hers and had the webpage pulled up with her account already logged in. "It wasn't actually lost in the accident," he said teasingly.

Souseiki's hands quickly became clammy as she looked to the floor in shame, "Okay, obviously that's me, but I'm…if you see they're not too crazy often."

"Just every day. Maybe eighteen hours between each," Kurogiri pointed out.

"Let me finish," she huffed with narrowed eyes, "I've obviously never acted out on such emotions," She tried reasoning with the two, but even though the information reached their ears they didn't believe she wouldn't act on the emotions eventually. All she needed was to merely find the courage to do such a thing. It was like sucking up all your courage to confess to a crush. This was no different than that.

Shigaraki sat up straight, "You can go then," he said. The smile remained and his voice did not waver. This was him giving her permission to do as she wanted. "Souseiki, you aren't a prisoner,"

The room filled with silence as the two stared at one another. "I'm not?" She blurted. In response, Shigaraki nodded. "What do I tell everyone?"

Maybe asking for advice from the two wasn't the greatest idea, "You're good at not talking," said the blue-haired teen. "There's the door," he said as he turned his back to her.

Souseiki nodded and turned on her heel towards the door. While on the way she yanked a jacket off the coat hanger and walked out. "Souseiki took your jacket." Kurogiri said the second the door shut, "Should I-?"

"She'll be back," he replied as he caressed a clean glass before him.

Down the block, Souseiki clung the jacket tighter to her body with every gust of wind that hit her. The night was cold and stung at her bruised skin as she walked along. The unfortunate really was the fact that she had no idea where in the city she was. Souseiki had half a mind to turn tail and ask for her phone back, or the very least directions, but what little pride she had left amongst her embarrassment would not allow her to do so. The brunette sucked teeth annoyed that those two had gotten to her phone.

No.

She was infuriated that she never thought to log out of that webpage. What if an actual hero had come to her rescue and her phone went into an evidence locker to be looked into. Her life would then surely be over if such confessions came to light.

While lost in her own little world, she failed to realize that she had stumbled upon a main road until she bumped into another body. "Watch your step, kid," Sneered an older woman without giving her a second glance.

"Bitch," Souseiki replied under her breath. There was something about adults that made her irritated. Maybe it was the way their voice took a condescending tone when they spoke to her, or maybe it was the way they held themselves with such pride just because they had a few wrinkles around their eyes. Even if this hatred existed, she had to suck it up at the moment, "Sorry, but do you know where the Musutafu Shopping Center is?" Souseiki asked bittersweetly.

She was sure a response would be given, but the one she received was far from expected, "Do I look like a GPS? Look it up, brat," snapped the woman once more before continuing her walk.

"An actual bitch," Souseiki muttered to herself again. With no sense of where she was going, she decided to walk along the main road I hoped of finding a place she recognized. Even a hero would be great, so she could get some actual directions.

Half an hour went by and she finally reached the center of town. With the luck of the unfortunate, Souseiki trudged through the shopping center with sore feet. There was still yellow tape surrounding the corner of the center that was a one-sided battle. The rumble hadn't been cleaned up yet, but knowing the heroes like Cementoss and her father they would be on it the second they had clearing from the police department. Her father was always one to follow rules at work, but when it came to at home problems he was an entire one-man riot. God forbid she did not respond within a second of his calling or when asked to do something. He and her mother were a complete tag team. When she didn't get her way dad would step in and assert both of their authority. The two ran the household their way and anything but was defying them.

Souseiki remembers that she once asked to go to a party and was rejected. This prompted her to sneak out, but once home she got a harsh scolding from her mother, but it didn't end there. The next day her father took her out on a hike. On a deserted peak, he forced her to train, but all he did was maneuver the Earth so she would fall in deep pits. Souseiki then arrived home with bruised and bleeding limbs.

Such a punishment only happened once, yet it was imbedded into her memory and burned into her soul. Now her body was in the same state and it was all because of her spandex-wearing father. What a wonderful life.

From the shopping center on the walk was an entire breeze. She knew every corner from then on. When she finally reached her home she let out a sigh of relief. The lights were still on and she could hear the muffled noise from the television screen. Souseiki walked closer and peeked through the window to see if her mother was awake. By the grace of God, the woman was still up and kicking with the entire family beside her. They all intently watched the television screen. It was a replay of her mother arriving at the scene and her two brother's running up to her as reporters followed.

The room was quiet until they zoomed in on Mrs. Yabe, "Did you see that? They got a really good angle of my face there," she remarked.

One of her brothers, Seiichi, nodded and shifted his gaze to the oldest male in the room, "Do you think this will give us publicity?"

Souseiki's jaw tightened in disbelief, "What the actual fuck?" She hissed quietly as she heard the conversation continue.

"Any publicity is good, son. Souseiki seems to have finally done right by us," announced Hero Flux as he stood up. Seeing this, Souseiki quickly ducked under the window and sat on the grass breathing hard. "We'll be in the limelight for as long as this investigation goes. Don't bring shame to your names, your agency, or your family."

Her eldest brother, Yuu, replied with a strong, "Yes sir."

Their chatter soon died down and Souseiki stayed on the ground. Her teeth grinding against one another out of pure anger. If she hated her family before she loathed them now.


	7. Chapter 6

By the next morning, when everyone had gone to work, Souseiki sauntered through the front door with the help of her house key. Everything seemed normal to her, "_Why wouldn't it be normal?_" She thought while she walked towards her bedroom. All she needed was some clothes, just a few so no one would suspect anything. A great plan that could have easily been executed, but some unknown force out there in the heavens wanted the brunette to really take in the fact that her family wanted to move on as quickly as possible. Souseiki stood stock still as if someone has used a freezing quirk on her. She stared into the empty room in disbelief. Her eyes scanned the area frantically as if staring long enough would bring back all her belongings within minutes, but all she felt was a headache coming on and a static noise irritating her ears. "Where the fuck is my stuff!" Souseiki venomously barked out.

If anyone other than her would walk in they would think no one ever occupied the room. It was spotless and free of furniture or any wall decorations. It seemed like a storage room that hadn't been used since the family moved in. The following hour the enraged girl spent her time rummaging through every closet and cupboard in the home. Even further investigation did not help her anger because she soon realized all traces of her had disappeared in a mere day. From her duvets to her favorite pink plate were nowhere to be found. Such a sight seemed as if she had never even existed in their lives. There was no mistaking that she was not wanted at all, so she went back and closed everything she had opened and out small items back in their place. She couldn't leave a trace of herself either, right?

With a frown etched onto her face, Souseiki walked out of the home and looked around the street, out of precaution, before making her way to the road she followed the night before. Her brain screamed at her to run as fast as she could, but forced herself to walk at an even pace. Doing such a thing would only attract attention to herself, this wasn't a street one would usually jog on.

A snicker broke past her lips as she walked along the road as she remembered her mom's words, "_We love you, honey. We just think you could put in a little more effort_." She always reassured her of such things and she never knew why. Now it was evident as to why she repeated those words when she found a chance. Those words were an attempt at convincing herself she did love her daughter. What else could it have been at this point? To them, Souseiki was just dead weight that would only be able to work a desk job.

"What bullshit," the teen muttered as she threw her head back and looked at the azure sky. To think her family even cared about her after the little tortures they had put her through. If stupid had a picture Souseiki was sure it would be her. Continuing to think about such a somber subject would only further ruined her mood, so she groaned as she leveled her head to stare down the path she walked. The street was busy compared to the night before. Pedestrians walked up and down the street, each minding their own business, but something nagged at her to pull up her hood. Maybe it was her vast knowledge of undercover spy movies that nudged her to do so. For a second she thought it would make her even more conspicuous than intended, but her mind settled as she suddenly noticed a lot of people walking around with their hoods on. They walked among the crowd without caring what their ouster appearance was. It dawned on Souseiki that she could learn a thing or two from such people.

Aside from that, her incident was already old news in this new quirk immersed society. People die every day and accidents such as hers occur more than once a day. At this point, she was just another statistic. The brunette was positive all eyes would be on her family, as they had mentioned last night. The public eye would be latched onto how Flux's family recovered from such a tragic familial loss.

After walking farther down the street she stopped when a slightly familiar building came into view. She stood aside and eyed the billboards over it. The lights weren't on, but a faint memory of them nagged at her. Due to it, she walked down the alley slowly and scanned the area hoping to find something that looked even more familiar. She bit her lip looking around the alleyway in hopes that the slight pain would bring back an essential memory.

"Welcome back," called a voice in the distance. The brunette's heart raced as she glanced around the are. There was no soul had or behind her and soon panic started settling in. Who would be calling her? Out of fear she pulled the sleeve's over her fists and turned to walk back towards the crowd. "Hey, up here," sighed the voice this time sounding more tired. At the sound of the voice, she once again turned quickly, causing the hood to fall off her head, as she looked at a window on the top floor. Above her was Shigaraki leaning against his forearms on the window sill. "Get inside already."

Despite the tone coming out like a boss screaming at an underpaid employee, Souseiki nodded and scrambled towards the door he had gestured to. When she stepped through the brunette made her way up a few stairwells before coming face to face with a familiar door. Pushing it open, she stood at the entrance to see Kurogiri sitting on a couch with a newspaper in hand and a mug of coffee on a side table. "Good morning," he greeted, "there's breakfast if you're hungry."

Suddenly feeling an itch in her throat, Souseiki gulped the saliva that had accumulated in her throat and said, "Thank you." She took slow steps towards the counter and saw two plates full of food. Taking a seat she looked back at Kurogiri, who no was sipping at his coffee.

Shigaraki then emerged from the door she had just entered through and settled himself before the breakfast beside Souseiki. He picked up a glass of water and stared at the way he held it for a second, with his middle finger raised in the air. "Good to see you back," he said before lowering the finger to grasp the glass with all five digits.

Adjacent to him, Souseiki turned to fully face her food, "Am I really still welcomed?" She whispered loud enough for him to hear. The way these two strangers had greeted her shocked Souseiki, to say the least. Who in their right mind would help her, again, a stranger and house her? They invited her into their not so welcoming home and made her breakfast. Overall, she didn't feel hated, which was nice. Quite frankly, this all felt like a fever dream, so she dug her nails into the palm of her hand until small, red crescent moons appeared. This new atmosphere screamed home to her now.

"That's a stupid question," Shigaraki answered as he cast her a side glance through blue locks. A response so dry and irritated satisfied her and she too began to pick up her utensils and eat breakfast along his side. Minutes passed without a word. Kurogiri had stood from his spot and walked closer to the two, close enough for the mist to disperse. Shigaraki saw the way Souseiki eyed the man before loudly dropping his silverware to catch her attention. "Let's go," he demanded and pulled her out of the seat by yanking on the jacket she wore.

The door slammed behind the two as Shigaraki led the way through the dark hallway and past the bathroom she had previously used. "Where are we going?" Souseiki questioned as she tried to look over his shoulder to see what room he could have been leading her to.

He didn't respond and simply tugged her long to the room she had used the nights before. "I had Kurogiri bring in some stuff you'd need before your parents got rid of them," he mumbled out as he opened the room's door. On the bed was a small duffel bag full of her clothing and mere toiletry essentials. It wasn't much, but the thought mattered much more.

Souseiki nodded to herself as she released her grip from Shigaraki's and walked into the room. "So you knew about my parents literally erasing my existence from their lives?" She muttered picking up a shirt and clenched it in her hand. "Why didn't you tell me? If you knew that little adventure I had last night wouldn't be necessary."

The blue-haired teen stood at the door with his hands now inches pockets. He knew why he hadn't said anything, but he played stupid, "No idea." It would have been better for her to find out on her own terms. Taking his word, a stranger's word, wouldn't hit home as he'd want. If she felt that anger surge through her body and saw her parent's nonchalant mood after her so-called death; he knew Souseiki would be a great accomplice. Her loyalty towards him and his ideals would only grow stronger from here on out if he let this happen. "Give me my jacket back. You've got your clothes now."

"Oh, right." She said dropping the clothes she held and gripping at the hem of the jacket before peeling the warm fabric of her skin. "I don't know what you want from me, Shigaraki, but I think you should know I don't kill people," Souseiki spoke with a tone so sure of herself. "I would never kill a person."

"Noted." He smiled as he clutched onto the sweater outstretched to him.

After their short chat, the hours ticked by and the two men didn't see the girl for the rest of the day. They didn't bother interrupting her at all whether she could be heard throwing things around or nothing could be heard at all. Shigaraki and Kurogiri sat in the open area staring at the television that simple had the words _Sound On_ registered on the screen. "It's only expected that the daughter of a hero would decide not to take a life. If you are to use her it must be in a roundabout way," erupted the voice of All for One.

Shigaraki lightly scratched at his neck as he eyed the screen, "Don't you think I know that? I know how she's going to be of use," he assured as he looked at Kurogiri who was sitting still in his spot. "We saw that projected quirks work around her. That could be used to our advantage."

In his seat, Kurogiri cleared his throat and caught the attention of the teen. "There's a chance she would go along with your plans. Souseiki has already expressed how thankful she is," the response warranted silence, so he continued due to the blue-haired boy's confused expression, "She asked if she was still welcome. She wanted to stay. That aside, she came back. We are her only home now."

"I'm not willing to gamble that. She's the first to join my party. If I lose her right now I won't get past the intro or even into the actual gameplay," Shigaraki muttered toying with the frayed fabric on the couch. "Leave her to me."


	8. Chapter 7

Three in the morning was said to be the witching hour. Spirits and restless ghosts were to be haunting those unfortunate enough to be awake at such an hour; however, neither of these swirled around the brunette cackling or taunting her. To her dismay, it was the sound of an extremely loud video game's soundtrack that woke her up, lulled her to sleep, then startled her awake once again with intense music. It was a vicious cycle all throughout the night. Souseiki tried from wrapping her pillow around her head to ripping pieces of her sheets and stuffing them in her ear canal in an attempt to drown out the noise, neither helped. She had half a mind to get out of bed and demand whoever was playing to turn it off or at least use some headphones. In the end, she knew she was nowhere near confrontational, so she stayed put under the covers.

For the following four hours, Souseiki went in and out of sleep. Eventually, around seven in the morning, she decided to make an appearance in the common room. The brunette rubbed her irritated eyes as she walked down the hall and pushed the door open. "Morning," she muttered in a tired tone. Once again, there was food on the counter, but this time Shigaraki was already present.

"You look like shit," he deadpanned as he watched her occupy the seat at his side.

In response, Souseiki gave a small groan and began eating. He stared at her without restraint until she seemed to give in to the silent peer-pressure and gave an actual answer, "A bad spirit was haunting me last night. Couldn't shake it," she said picking at the rice on her plate.

A scoff rang through the room, then turned into a laugh, "You believe in ghosts? What are you? A child?"

Souseiki gripped her fork and gave a forced nod, "Maybe," she said through gritted teeth before shoving food into her mouth to keep from making any unnecessary comments.

"Anyway, we're going out," he states as he grips the wooden counter with trembling limbs. His body screams fatigue, but he gives no indication of wanting to rest. Those bloodshot eyes seem to be stuck on the promise of a mission. His movements are slow and sluggish, but his aura says '_I'm fine!_' with the tone dipped in authority. Shigaraki surely was someone that, despite his bratty attitude, completed tasks he needed to be done. "Are you going to keep staring at me like a dumbass or are you going to go get changed?"

Souseiki huffed and pushed herself up with the same fatigue, but with no determination. She followed the man with blue tresses out the door and down towards their respective rooms. From what she's just witnessed, it was safe to assume that the ghost haunting her the night before was his doing, so why wasn't he wanting to fall to the floor asleep like she was? He certainly was a force to be reckoned with if his own fatigue didn't hinder him from moving forward with his day. On the other hand, she stood staring blankly at the bag on the floor full of her clothing. A stare as blank as a canvas watched the discarded items as if her nonexistent quirk would get her dressed. The brunette lazily tugged on a clean pair of jeans and a lightweight hoodie to hide her complexion from the crowds. Something told her today was going to be longer than it should be.

There was something about the way Shigaraki continued to fiddle with his hands within his pockets that made Souseiki far more nervous than she should have been. The duo currently walked through the streets of Musutafu with their hoods worn high on their head. Souseiki wore a mask over her face and glanced over to Shigaraki in concern. He wasn't the most notorious fellow, but he was the oddest looking lad of the year. Anyone would look over to his complexion and stare in astonishment if they had the time of day. His lips were dry while the scratches under his eyes and along his neck were red and angry. The hood and those blue locks could only do so much to cover his features. "Where are we going?"

Shigaraki stared at the pavement as he walked, something about watching the cracks fall behind him with every step either piqued his interest or allowed him to calmly walk the streets without reliving a horrible past of gasps and dirty looks. "Kurogiri said we ran out of coffee," he shrugs in reply. It was completely nonchalant and odd to think that was just it. Who would be fidgeting over such a mundane task? There had to be more to this, yet Souseiki didn't voice any of her concerns as he leads the way into a convenience store. "He likes the shitty generic brand from this place for some reason," he muttered looking down the aisles until he caught eye of the instant coffee mix. "One day," he continued as he browsed the boxes on the shelves, "he wouldn't talk to me for an entire day because I bought the wrong one," he said reaching for a box.

"Don't you think that's a little silly?" She questioned watching him inspect the detailed ingredients on the item. "Too specific actually," Souseiki added. The comment was more in accordance with his overly verbose behavior rather than the story.

"Tasted like shit," He said walking past her and to the register to check out. "Personally, I thought all coffee tasted the same, but there's just a way about how this one mixes well with those little boiling bubbles that make it taste really good."

With the item paid, he handed the bag to her and they walked out. Souseiki pondered on the conversation as they walked further into the city. Shigaraki didn't dwell any longer on it as he led the girl through an empty path. Two large buildings encased the sidewalk that held no other pedestrians. "I'm sorry, but am I the boiling water and you're the shitty brown color?"

Such an outburst caused the blue-haired teen to halt and turn his entire attention to her, "What?" He spat out with a complexion twisted between disgust and confusion. "Are you stupid or something?"

The response caught her off guard and had embarrassment skidding its way across her nose leaving a red trail on its way. "I thought you were making an analogy," she spoke in a meek voice as she shrunk back where she stood.

"I was telling you a story, idiot," Shigaraki said with a scratch of his neck, "If I knew you were this dense I wouldn't have said anything," he mumbled. He turned down the street and left Souseiki standing against the building.

"Wait!"

Shigaraki looked over his shoulder, his crimson eyes shooting daggers in her direction; causing her to stay put in her spot. "Stay there!" He demanded after taking a few steps forward, then turning back to shout, "And that's not a fucking analogy!" Before turning the corner and disappearing around the corner.

Souseiki stared wide-eyed after the man before leaning against the building. The thought of him having to run another errand on his own popped into her head, so she did as told. Her initial embarrassment was still visible and she ruthlessly tried to calm her blood cells as she shook her head. She could understand now why her friends use to want her to stop reading so many mystery books. Her conclusions were insanely out there if she thought too much. Instead, to clear her head she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her phone. The data to her carrier had been long disconnected, so she relied on a nearby hotspot to scroll through news articles. Everything hero related, from All Might saving an entire burning apartment building to Midnight assisting some market festival, filled the media. She was no longer in the headlines.

"Who would even be out here? This is literally the boonies of this city," groaned a voice down the path.

The footsteps grew closer causing Souseiki's blood to run cold as she slowly looked up, "There was a call saying a suspicious person was hanging around here," voiced another man. When she looked up her eyes met his, Seiichi, her older brother. Right at his side was Yuu as well. The two were decked out in their hero gear, no doubt patrolling together to kill time. "Oh, miss!" He called out seeing her. "We received a call concerning-"

His voice slowly drowned out as the ringing in her ears grew louder and he closer. She watched the two approach slowly as she took a step back. "Hey, she's moving away," Yuu muttered to his brother. Without another word the two closed in on Souseiki quicker and demanded her to stop unless she wanted to be apprehended.

She obeyed and stopped moving.

Seiichi's brow creased as he secured eye contact, "Would you answer a few questions?" He asked. The two brothers awaited an answer, but nothing verbal was received. The brunette merely nodded and held onto the plastic bag with a tighter grip. "There was a call concerning a strange individual. We're not saying it's you, but we just need you to answer some simple questions. It's just procedure," Seiichi explained calmly with a reassuring smile, yet it did nothing to calm her nerves.

Where in the hell was Shigaraki?

Yuu stood beside his brother with arms akimbo, eyes narrowed and set on his sister. "You look familiar," he remarked leaning forward to get a better view of her, "Holy shit, Souseiki?"

The two brothers stood waiting for her to decline such a statement or remove the mask to reveal her identity, but Souseiki was now focused on the figure standing behind the two. Shigaraki stood still between the two men. He now wore that dismembered hand on his face. "Yeah," she muttered pulling down the mask without looking either brother in the eye. She was locked on Shigaraki, watching him raise his hands.

He was going to kill them.

"Isn't this bad news?" Yuu asked with eyes trained on the youngest sibling, "If she's alive then we'll look like fools."

"Better," Seiichi said with a smile that could put any villain's to shame, "It'd be a miracle. We'd get more press."

Souseiki nodded, now looking at her brothers, "You know, I didn't hate you guys all that much," she said with a crack in her voice. "You two were okay," The brunette smiled and waved a hand at the two, "I'll see you around," she said taking two large steps back.

Before either brother could reach out to her, a hand was placed at the nape of their necks. "It was nice meeting you," Shigaraki muttered to the two as their bodies decayed in a matter of seconds. Their ashes, it seemed like, piled onto the pavement before her eyes. "You'd never kill a person?" Shigaraki asked taking the hand off his face and placing it in his pocket.

The brunette walked past him and said, "I didn't kill anyone."


	9. Chapter 8

Weeks passed and so did news of the vanished sidekicks. No one dwelled on the news long and soon their faces would flash through the paper every other week on the back page of the _Have You Seen Me?_ advertisement. Like their sister, they had become old news due to their father's low ranking as a Pro Hero. It was quite hilarious to the brunette that at the very least she got a news cover and they barely managed to get on the last page of the local newspaper. Such an occurrence almost made her believe she had acquired good karma throughout her short-lived life.

The brunette currently sat inside an old run-down local restaurant. Her fingertips drummed against the glass that contained her drink as she looked around anxiously looking at her phone. The black screen stared back at her with zero notifications ash she played with her drink. Shigaraki had long asked her to grab some food while he ran, what he called, an errand. It had been over an hour since he had left her side and she began to grow worried with every extra passing minute. As much as she knew how reliable his quirk was, Shigaraki wasn't the most agile nor was he in peak physical condition. There was no doubt that if they were both to arm wrestle they'd be at a draw.

She stared intently at the cellphone as she lifted her glass and took a sip through the straw, then it pinged. The teenager almost jumped out of her seat as she stared bug-eyed at the screen. A simple message read "_Sit at the table in front of you_." Souseiki got up with her belongings and did as she was told. Patiently, she continued to wait for another text or a call, but all that came was the ring of a bell as the front door opened. "What'd you order?" Shigaraki waltzed in and sat in front of her.

"Where were you?" She asked with worry laced in her words. She had grown to adore the man within the few days she had been with him and Kurogiri, but with that adoration came worry. This worry rose from fear of him doing something out in the open, but she wasn't aware of how tactful he actually was.

The blue-haired man shrugged and reached over for the item wrapped in foil. "Getting rid of trash," he mumbled as he unwrapped his food and took a bite. He seemed to grimace as he swallowed the food, "This is shit," Shigaraki commented as he took another huge bite. Regardless of the disdain in his voice Shigaraki shoveled the burger down and stood up. Souseiki follows him out the door but was quickly pulled by the arm. "Walk by the street," Shigaraki said as he glanced down the street beside the restaurant. There near the building was a pile of ash. It use to be some teenager who decided to double-cross All For One once they received an extra quirk. Such disrespect and lack of loyalty always irked the teenager. Why would anyone even try to do wrong by someone who has done nothing but good for them? He glanced over to Souseiki whose face dawned a passive expression.

Since the passing of her two brothers, there was a slight pep in her step. The brunette gladly tagged along when he went out and even when she wasn't invited. Her self invitations weren't always welcomed, but he rarely voiced his dislike. When he would tell her to stop following like a lost child she'd still follow but at a distance as if he wouldn't notice. "Did you need anything else?" She asked while she raised an eyebrow. "We got mostly food the other day or did you run an errand for him?" From the times she had tagged along Souseiki quickly figured out that Shigaraki was that faceless man's rat. He ran _errands_ for him on a near-daily basis. "What is he to you anyway?" Finally came her burning question.

Shigaraki eyed her before giving a shrug. "In a way just a mentor. He showed me that I could do what I want and it wasn't a sin," he said.

Souseiki clicked her tongue and replied, "Like killing people. Pretty sure that's considered a sin but to each their own."

"I'm pretty sure I heard through the grapevine that not honoring you parents is a sin as well,"

The brunette huffed as she tilted her nose up to the skies, "Yeah? What about you? I don't see you honoring yours," she snapped back.

His dry hands dug into the pocket of his sweater and brought out that dismembered hand he loves wearing on his face. "This one belongs to my father. The rest are from other family members including my mother," the words came out so nonchalant that it took Souseiki back. She eyed the hand until he hid it away once again. "I honor them."

A silence took over the two until the reached the bar. Kurogiri was nowhere to be seen as Shigaraki took a seat at the bar and Souseiki on the couch.

She had made herself comfortable and pulled her legs up to her chest as she stared at the teenager's back. Ever since he finished those thoughts the image of him wearing those hands plagued her mind. She wanted to ask, but she's been building up her courage ever since she plopped herself on that plush seat. He must have wanted to talk, right? People don't go around their entire teen years not mentioning their parents or the lack of their presence. He couldn't be fairing well. Souseiki swallowed thickly and parted her lips, "Shigaraki," she whispered out to him. His body was hunched over the bar staring at his phone. "Are you okay?" The words slipped before she could even think of something decent to say to him.

As he heard the words, Shigaraki sat in his spot without moving. He thought over his options, which weren't much. He could say nothing and stay there or say nothing and walk to his room. "I'm thirsty," or he could say that.

Souseiki jumped out of her seat and around Kurogiri's bar to fetch a drink. She quickly handed it to him, "I know dead parents are a touchy subject, but what happened?"

"You're great with words," he replied sarcastically before taking a big gulp. Shigaraki set down the glass and watched the liquid swish one way and the other. Was he really going to give her the tragic beginning of his quirk? "I killed them. Their hands were what remained. No one cared for such an ugly shit like me no matter who I approached. He then found me and took me in. That's it," he mumbled before taking another gulp and handing her the empty glass. When an answer didn't come fast enough, he looked up expecting to see a horrified expression but was met with a look of pity. "It-" he blinked and balled his hands into fists, "It was an accident believe it or not."

Warm, small hands clasped his own in a tight grip. His red eyes snapped in her direction and were met with the same pity, "I'm sorry," she said in a soft voice, "If I knew you I would have helped." Souseiki smiled at him as she gave his hands a squeeze. "These hands wouldn't know death."

Those brown eyes stared into his without wavering. "You're ridiculous," he said standing up to leave. "It already happened." He walked into his room and shut the door behind him. Shigaraki sat in his computer chair and stared down at his hands that slowly began to lose her warmth. Maybe if he knew her sooner things wouldn't have been so bad.


	10. Chapter 9

Shigaraki and Souseiki trudged through mud as they made their way closer to a village. The rain would not let up and the blue-haired teen was growing more irritated by the droplet. The two had been sent out to the countryside a week ago by Kurogiri; who received word of some deeply needed information. This information being some newfound study the "doctor", as Shigaraki called him, wanted to press forward with his research. Shigaraki and Souseiki had been out in the empty country all week trying to find the physician who had uncovered said information. By word of mouth, the two found out that said physician lived in the village they were currently approaching. "This is so stupid," Souseiki spoke up through chattering teeth. Cold winds had been blowing all throughout the day and this new late downpour was not helping at all. "How are you not cold?" She asked pulling her jacket closer to her body as if the wet fabric was going to warm her rapidly depleting temperature.

"I am. I just don't tell you every little inconvenience thrown my way," said Shigaraki as they arrived at the village's entrance. He led the way to a building that still had its lights on so late into the night.

Souseiki walked into the establishment closely behind him and stared wide-eyed at the inside. It was a tavern. The seats were full and so were the tables. "Um, Shigaraki," she said in a small voice.

His elbow jutted back and lightly nudged her, "What'd I just say?" The brunette sighed and motioned as if she were wiping her mouth and followed his step up to the bartender. He easily caught his attention and asked, "Do you know where we can rent out a room for the night?" He asked in his usual tone.

The bartender, a large, muscular man with tan skin starred down at the two, "How old are you two? Shouldn't you be going home?" He leered at them.

"We just need a room for the night. Just tell us where we can find one," Shigaraki said once more, but this time his tone of voice growing more irate with every word. He didn't like it when people wasted his time or when the underestimated him for his age.

The bartender clicked his tongue and turned away, "Go home."

"Souseiki,"

The addressed girl whined, "Tomura," she said drawing out his name. Shigaraki snapped his attention to her and with that, she raised her hands in mock defeat. Souseiki stepped back the appropriate amount and watched as Shigaraki jumped the bar with ease and kicked the back of the bartender's knees.

The man groaned as he fell face first, but turned quickly on his back to look up at Shigaraki. "You little-"

"Look, I just need some directions," he said leaning over him. Shigaraki snapped his neck the side causing his bones to pop. He casually rolled his shoulders back and picked up a bottle of whiskey and watched as it decayed. "Just tell me where I can get a room and I won't turn this dusty ass place into actual dust,"

For a tall and muscular man, he crumpled easily at the sight of a scrawny teenager using his quirk. "three buildings down, old lady Sano rents out rooms to travelers," he blubbers out as Shigaraki steps back.

Souseiki walked closer to the bar and looked at the man as Shigaraki hopped the bar once more. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" She said with a wide smile towards the man before she turned tail and walked out into the storm with Shigaraki once more. "He said she was an old lady. I'll talk to her if you want me to," She offered glancing up at him. The blue-haired teen only shrugged his shoulders as they stood in front of a home that had all the lights off. Souseiki raised her fist and knocked on the door.

They waited patiently, then the door slowly peeled open and an older woman peeped her head out. Her salt and pepper hair sleeked back and her eyes squinted into the night causing her wrinkles to become far more accentuated. "Oh, dear!" She exclaimed once she made out their figures, "Come on in, come in! It's raining cats and dogs out there," she commented as she opened the door wider to reveal she was holding a lantern in her hand. "What are you children doing out there in the cold?" She asked closing the door as they all entered.

"Well, we were looking for a place to stay the night while the storm calmed," Souseiki smiled despite the darkness concealing all her features. "Do you happen to have a room?"

Sano raised her lantern a little higher and eyed the teenagers. She watched as the second didn't face her and seemed to almost hide behind the girl. She squinted at Shigaraki and spoke, "I only have one room, dearies. I couldn't possibly let you two young ones share a room."

Souseiki tilted her head in question, "We don't mind at all."

"No, sweetie. It isn't always safe with your men. Especially at you-"

At the explanation, a light went off in Souseiki's head and she quickly made a disgusted face, "Ewww, no. Ma'am, he's my brother1"

This response prompted the old woman to gasp in surprise, "I am so sorry, sweeties," she said with a hand over her mouth, "Right this way then," she said scurrying up some stairs. "The couch should be big enough for your brother and there are extra blankets in the wardrobe. Help yourselves to them," Sano explained as she opened the door to a room. It was large with the before mentioned couch and a bed. There were wooden nightstands on either side of the wooden bed that was right under a window with open curtains. "Breakfast is early in the morning. I'll wake you two," she smiled as she lit some candles on the nightstand, "Have a good night now."

Souseiki waved to Sano as she left the room. "I'm not sleeping on the couch," said Shigaraki as soon as the door closed.

"What? I'm not sleeping on it either," she said turning on her heel to face him. Shigaraki had his back to her as he shrugged his jacket off, "Are you even listening to me?"

"I am," he sighed as he yanked his wet shirt off, "Look, we can just share the bed." The brunette's cheeks burned red as he turned to face her. It wasn't Shigaraki's body that caused this effect, but it was the fact that he was half-naked before her. His body wasn't the most ravishing to lay your eyes upon anyway. The situation was just embarrassing to her. "It's like sitting on the same couch."

"It is not like sitting on the couch at all!"

Shigaraki sighed and slid under the covers without another word; leaving Souseiki to fume quietly in the dark. She stood there staring at the back of his head and listened to his soft breathing.

She tried to rationalize in her mind as she sat on the couch and slowly took her shoes off. "This is Shigaraki," she thought "He's just him. Shigaraki is a good guy, he's not weird at all, so why should I be acting weird?" Her thoughts went on like this until she took a deep breath and slapped her hands against her cheeks. "I'm fine. This is fine," the brunette said as she pulled her own wet shirt off and hung it against the wardrobe's open door. She crossed to his side and picked up his wet clothing as well and hung them before blowing out the candles. "It's nothing," she mumbled to herself as she crawled under the covers as well.

"Took you a while," Shigaraki muttered as he snaked his hand under the pillow and clutched it close to his head now. Souseiki gave a small grunt as she looked up at the chipping ceiling. "You called me Tomura earlier."

The girl's brows creased as if she had a problem with the way the paint on the ceiling was breathing down on her. "Well," she paused pulling the covers up to her neck, "that is your name, isn't it?"

"Call me Tomura,"

"Okay," she yawned, "Whatever you say, Tomura."

Come morning, Sano did not go against her word. She banged against the door. "Good morning, dears!" She calls out, "Breakfast is ready!" Without receiving a response she walked away leaving the two to get ready.

In bed, Souseiki groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and found herself being a small spoon, in a way. Shigaraki had an arm laying over her neck and the other hand just above her head as it lay under his like a pillow. "Shigaraki," she mumbled still tired. He didn't move so she moved out of his loose grip, "Shigaraki," she called again shaking his shoulder lightly. "Wake up."

"Tomura," he said in a groggy voice, "What happened to Tomura?"

Souseiki rubbed her eyes as she walked to her hanging shirt, "Right. I'm sorry, Tomura," She said as she tugged her shirt off the wardrobe door and pulled it on. The wooden bed creaked as Tomura sat up straight and scratched at his neck while the other rested on a bent knee. The brunette turned in her spot to see if he was changing, but all she saw were those hooded, red eyes looking straight back at her. "Something wrong?" She asked while tilting her head. Those auburn eyes flicked from her to his clothing. A scoff escaped past her lips as she took his clothes in her hand. "Here, Tomura," she sang as she leaned one knee on the mattress and stretched the clothes out to him.

"Children!" called the old woman's voice so loud it could be felt all throughout the room. Tomura grimaced before they both walked out of the room and down the stairs looking for the kitchen. "In here!" The two followed the woman's voice and found themselves in a room with her and three other men. "Sit down and eat!" She gestured to two empty seats.

Souseiki sat down between a small old man and Tomura and began eating her already served breakfast. The two didn't take long to finish their food, pay, and leave. They needed to continue on their search for the paperwork that was requested. Souseiki had inquired about it, but the old woman knew nothing of a man performing research in their village, but that single piece of knowledge would not deter them.

The Doctor was rarely wrong about these types of things so Tomura wouldn't take "no" for an answer so easily. He knew what the Doctor wanted should be in this rickety old place. However, everyone on the street that they asked had the same answer. They had no doctor who was conducting research. There had to be someone left who knew an ounce of knowledge on this subject, right? "What about the bartender?" Souseiki piped up as they walked away from a small pharmacy. "You know how they say drunk people just say everything? Maybe he's heard something."

"I really don't want to go ask that shit bird," Tomura mumbled as they walked closer to the tavern they entered last night.

"Wait outside then. I'm pretty confident I can ask a question by myself," Souseiki quipped with a small smile on her lips. The brunette walked through the doors and stepped up to the bar. The sam muscled individual from the night prior stood with his back towards her. "Excuse me!" She shouted over the loud music playing.

Without missing a beat the man turned around and eyed Souseiki with the same glare he held before. "You again?"

"Quick question," she smiled up at him as she slid into a stool, "We heard that there was a doctor here who was researching something on quirks. Would you know anything about that?"

The wiped his hands on a towel and turned to finish a drink he was making, "Yeah, there's rumors about a doctor who walked into the woods one day and never returned. Could that be your person of interest?"

Souseiki nodded as she traced the lines on the wooden counter, "Maybe, got anything else?"

"Ever heard of a gorgon?" He asked as he set a glass in front of an old greying man, "Don't look into their eyes, kid."

She scoffed as she stood up, "Thanks," she muttered leaving.

The sun peeked out from between the heavy rain clouds and the wind grew stronger as she walked out, "So?" Asked Tomura as he pushed himself off the building.

She shrugged and said, "So we're after a fairytale?"

"That's so stupid."

Her feet hit the pavement heavily with every step. Small clouds of warm breath appeared with every exhale, her heart raced within her chest with every fearful step. "Do something!" She screamed at her partner who ran alongside her.

"Don't you think I would have done something by now if I could?" Replied Shigaraki irritated by the situation rather than the company. Behind them chased an incredibly large individual with a heteromorphic quirk. "If you hadn't been like 'Oh, Shigaraki, where am I suppose to go?' So damn loud we would be close enough to stop it," he said with a high pitched mocking tone.

Souseiki sucked her teeth and twirled around as she was taking off her black jacket, "Can't do shit without me," she muttered under her breath as she started running towards the outraged woman, "I'll get you close!" She threw her jacket in the woman's face in order to blind her. The snakes she had as hair soon disappeared when Souseiki grew closer. The brunette looked back to shout an order, but saw him already hot on her heels. Her feet pushed forward to get him out of her range and without a word he knew he was far enough to use decay. "Close enough?" Came her winded laughter.

Shigaraki looked up at her and raised a brow at the bag she clutched onto. She didn't have that a second ago, but he didn't question her on it. He opted to snatch it out of her grasp and rifle through it, "Cool, she had the papers in here."

"You owe me a jacket."

Shigaraki glanced at her then the papers, "Cry me a river," There was a long pause as they walked away from their mess and Shigaraki looked over the papers. "Like I said, stupid. Why'd I have to get this," he mumbles to himself after shoving them into Souseiki's chest.

Shigaraki snatched the bag and crossed it over her torso, "You're not interested in _why _she had the papers in there?"

"I want to know _why_ you grabbed it if you didn't know," he said as he waved the papers in her face.

Souseiki shrugged her shoulders and took the papers, "Kind of wanted to see what necessities a gorgon carries."

The teenager scratched at his neck and led the way out of the forest, "Okay?"


	11. Chapter 10

When you enjoy someone's company time is always irrelevant. For Souseiki five years came and went within the blink of an eye. Despite the flying years, the brunette sat on the same couch with Shigaraki while Kurogiri tried, in vain, to celebrate her birthday. "Happy birthday to Souseiki. Happy birth-"

"His singing is shit," Shigaraki sighed looking down at his phone where he was looking through his social media feed.

Souseiki sat on the opposite end with her back to the armrest, "Shut it," she hissed with a kick to his elbow. This action received no response, so she turned to look over the couch with a bright smile and piped, "Thank you, Kuro! I'll have a slice later."

From her spot, Souseiki could see his eyes form into crescent moons signifying a smile. "What will you do today?" He asked while setting three plates into the counter for a later time. When he didn't hear a response he approached her and watched as the dark clouds surrounding him slowly dissipated. Never would he become accustomed to feeling so naked near her, unlike Shigaraki, who immediately started gripping everything around him when she within his vicinity. Sometimes his young leader would accidentally demolish things because he would forget to check if she was in the room. "Yabe Souseiki?"

The now twenty-year-old hummed as a reply and looked away from her phone. "Sort of wanted to go and try out roller skating. Would you like to join me? I think you'd be good considering your posture isn't shit," a giggle escaped her lips as she glanced to her friend, "Tomura would definitely fall."

"What the fuck?" Hissed the blue-haired man without moving his gaze from the bright screen. "Is that why you didn't ask me?" Those beady red eyes stared into hers as if he were trying to melt her with his disbelief. Even if the two had been living under the same roof for years the man was oblivious to her jokes, hence his reaction. To him, Souseiki was the girl he saved and the one who worshipped him, but sometimes these odd forms of endearment went over his head.

"It's a joke, Tomura," she replied with a soft laugh to show him it was all in good humor. Unlike her male counterpart, Souseiki knew him all too well at this point. He was an open book from the start after all, but he could be a little dense when it came to affection. This didn't hinder her devotion to him nor stop her from showing him that she loved his company even if it was just the two of them spending hours in his room and looking over his books for the umpteenth time while he played video games.

Finally, almost as if content, he turned back to his phone. "Are you sure you want to hit the ground a thousand times today?" He asked as his thumb swiped up on the screen. "That doesn't exactly sound fun," he said shoving her feet away from him as he stood up and left towards his room.

Silence soon engulfed the room as Kurogiri and Souseiki stared at one another in confusion. "It seems like Shigaraki Tomura is rather upset," Kurogiri said in a low voice so the addressed person could not hear him from his side of the small place.

"Seems so-" Souseiki muttered while looking at his empty spot as it got colder. The brunette stood up and walked to the counter with Kurogiri following behind her. "Do you think he's mad at me, Kuro?" She pouted to him.

Kurogiri watched as she bent forward and stretched her upper body on the counter like a child, "I believe he could be upset that you did not ask him first," he replied cutting a slice of cake and setting it on a plate. "Shigaraki Tomura loves sweets."

Brown eyes stared at the slice of cake for minutes before deciding it was best to go and apologize to the oversized toddler. "Yeah, he does." Her slender fingers wrapped around the edge of the plate, then she made her way to the leader's room with the plate in one hand and a spoon in the opposite. Regular days always seemed to end like this within their small group. Shigaraki would become passive-aggressive over the smallest of things and Souseiki would have to place her part to keep him satisfied. "Tomura, I'm sorry," she voiced walking into his room only to see him on the floor with his back leaning against the bed. "Here's an apology gift."

"That's your gift, stupid," he was quit to snap, but the didn't stop him from taking the offer.

Souseiki smiled as she watched him take his first bite. "It's the thought that counts," was her response while she climbed over him and onto her bed. She made herself comfortable behind him with her feet at either side of Shigaraki. "You know, Shigaraki Tomura," she teased with a small smile on her lips, "being cranky will give you wrinkles."

Shigaraki gives a grown as he lulled his head back, "Would you leave me if I had more?" He asked as his shoulders relaxed when her fingers slowly wove themselves into his hair.

"I don't think so. You're Tomura with them," she said softly while her fingers raked through his hair and slowly undid the tangles within the blur tresses.

Such a reply caused Shigaraki to ease further into her touch and close his eyes. He loved the feel of her fingers playing through his hair in such an intimate manner. This little habit of her's started when she saw him reach for his neck to scratch it raw. Every fiber in his body loved this feeling and ached for it whenever she was near him now, but never would he ask her to do it. He thought if he were to demand such a thing then it would lose that soft touch he so much enjoyed.

The blue-haired man opened his eyes only to see Souseiki leaning over as well and staring down at him, "What are you looking at?"

"Want to go out and hit the ground a thousand times with me today?" She asked this time with a bright smile. "Just hold my hand so we can eat shit together, promise?"

He scoffed and stood up from his spot, "Fine. I don't want to hear you whining at night if you're sore," Shigaraki said as they walked down the corridor, "You're a fucking nightmare when you have the slightest inconvenience."

Souseiki let out a hug of her own as she heard the hypocrisy leave his lips as if he were such an adult. "Okay, _dad_," she started and was ready to throw more light insults until her face collided with his back, "Forget how to walk already?"

From behind she stepped around and watched as Kurogiri held up a newspaper that read _All Might a Teacher at UA_. "We're going to have to put your birthday on pause for a while, Souseiki," Shigaraki stated in a calm voice as he took the paper and began reading it. "We'll be taking a field trip to UA in a bit instead."

Souseiki sighed as she glared up at Kurogiri for ruining what was going to be a relaxing day with Shigaraki, "Can we ride there on roller skates there?"


	12. Chapter 11

p style="margin: 0px;"The skates' wheels slipped from under the brunette, but she was quick to hold onto Shigaraki, who had decided against wearing skates. "Oh, fuck," she cursed under her breath as she felt her heart nearly leap from her chest. "That was too close."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" The streets on the way to the prestigious hero academy were absent of people early in the morning to Shigaraki's surprise. Usually, there would be a morning rush where they would have to fight against the flow of people, but today it was relatively empty. "Keep reaching for me like that every time you almost fall and my arms going to be out of commission, idiot," he spoke in turn. "We could have gone out to skate tomorrow."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "What would be the fun in that?" Souseiki said with a slight huff while she pushed away from him to slowly attempt skating once more. "Today is my birthday everything is way more special on your birthday, you know?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "No," but Shigaraki knew all too well. His birthdays had been much more entertaining the past few years since she has been around. A stupid slinky he had on his shelf was far more important to him than it should have been. "Do you remember where you're supposed to be?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki slowly turned to try and skate backward and surprisingly managed without eating shit. "Yeah, across the street. Come on. You think I'd fuck this one up for you?" Came her rhetorical question. After all the little "missions" they've been on the only one she had managed to lead astray was when she dropped Kurogiri's coffee just as she entered through the front door. "Oh, this is it," she smiled slowing down. "Go right on ahead, leader," she giggled while teasing the man./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Shigaraki watched as she sat on the curb and began undoing her skates. "See you back home?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" From her spot on the floor, Souseiki hummed in confirmation. "Yeah. I'm going shopping first. Need anything?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "I'm out of orange soda."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki nodded as she stood up with her sneakers now on. "Have fun," She smiled softly and watched him walk off across the street towards the academy doors that were crowded with the press. Soon his blue tresses blended into the multitude of people and she walked off towards the shopping center. On her way there, she pulled her phone out and dialed Kurogiri, who unsurprisingly always picked up on the first ring./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "Yabe Souseiki, are you alright?" He immediately asked thinking the worst. "Should I go right now? What's your location?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" The addressed woman snickered as she entered the grocery store. "Hi, Kuro. Did you want anything specific from the store?" Souseiki asked picked up a basket. "We were out of some stuff, so I took it upon myself to do the shopping for you this time."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" On the other side of the line, Kurogiri let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank you, Yabe Souseiki. Would you get me chunky monkey ice cream?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki nodded her head as she picked up some fresh fruit, "Chunky monkey and orange soda, got it."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Another sigh came from him, but this one a bit more irritated, "He shou-"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "ldn't be drinking those," She finished for him, "We know, Kuro, but come on he likes them. It's not going to hurt him. Look, I'll make sure to water it down for him, okay?" Souseiki bargained as she picked up a six-pack of the orange soda. "There are few things he enjoys in this world and this sugary drink is one of them. Let him live a little."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "He's living out his dream right now."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki rolled her eyes as she walked around the bright grocery store. "Trying to better the world is not a dream. It is a god-given right," she said in all seriousness. This she wasn't joking about. If emthe/em hero fell at the hands of a villain the rest would be easy to overtake. Or so that is what Shigaraki has embedded into her head. The secret to a perfect world is one where the justice system isn't determined by heroes. Heroes would need to be eradicated for everyone to live a peaceful life./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" "Of course, you are right," he responded in what seemed to be a strained voice. "There's an incoming call. He must be ready."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki smiled as she reached for the pint of ice cream, "Be safe, Kuro. I'll see you two tonight," she said in confidence. As the call ended, Souseiki stuffed the phone in her pocket and pushed the skates higher up onto her shoulder by the laces they hung from. In her mind, there was no doubt that they would come out to be victorious. Shigaraki had been working hard alongside some men to gather enough villains together for an attack no matter when it would come. This had to be it and even if it wasn't she knew Shigaraki would not yield in his pursuit to destroy the hero society. Whatever would happen, she swore to help him and All for One in their journey in any way possible with her quirk. "This stupid quirk has got to be good for something," she sighed as she scanned her items in the self-checkout lane before bagging them and walking out into the world once again./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Shigaraki and Kurogiri had attempted to strategize the fight between her, Shigaraki, and All Might, but it was no use. Their tag team was flawless with others who had "lower XP" as Shigaraki put it, but they alone did not have enough experience points to take down the number one hero all on their own. Since lack of experience was their dilemma, Shigaraki figured more lives were what he needed in order to help him achieve the goal. However, more lives would mean Souseiki could not tag along. Her quirk would get in the way, especially since she had no off switch to it./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Finally home, Souseiki unlocked the door and pushed it open with her hip. She juggled keeping everything in hand before dumping it all on the single couch. For once the place was silent, the sound of Kurogiri cleaning wasn't around nor was Shigaraki's button clicking disturbing the peace. /p  
p style="margin: 0px;"This silence was eerie and unsettling to her. It was new if anything. The brunette was now used to hearing some kind of soft noise, but here she was looking around the empty and silent home wishing for Kurogiri to warp into the living space. It took her a few minutes to realize the two weren't coming any time soon. By then she began putting away the food she had brought home and before treading into her own room to sit on the large bed and thumb through a comic book she had swiped from Shigaraki's shelf./p  
p style="margin: 0px;"By two in the afternoon Souseiki was sound asleep in her room with the book beside her head. She slept peacefully until a loud thud sounded from the living space. Startled, the brunette sat up slowly and lowered herself off the bed with as much grace as she could muster to keep silent. The sound made her believe someone had knocked down the front door and an intruder was wandering around. Afraid of such a thing, she softly started turning the doorknob, but then she heard his voice, "Souseiki! Get out here and help!" Shigaraki's voice ricocheted off the walls as he groaned in pain. /p  
p style="margin: 0px;" At the sudden command, she ripped the door open and rushed out without hesitation. "Tomura!" Souseiki gasped as she saw him on the ground with bleeding limbs. Never had she actually seen him in distress or in pain, but the view made her heart thud. "I'll- hold on!" She said in a rush as she ran to gather bandages and some alcohol. "Kurogiri! What do I do?" Souseiki asked hysterically as she dropped herself beside Shigaraki on the floor with the supplies. /p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Kurogiri huffed beside him on the floor out of breath and sat up slowly to take the supplies from her, "I've got this, Yabe Souseiki. Please calm down. He will be alright."/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Petrified for his life, Souseiki scrambled to her feet and helped Kurogiri set him up on the couch. "What happened? Did someone have guns?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Shigaraki hissed in pain as Kurogiri began digging for the bullet in his shin, "No, Souseiki. I put these in myself," he replied with a sarcastic tone of voice. "Of course a hero had a gun." The brunette bit her lip as he gripped her hand and tightly. "It was a good call that you didn't go," he said through gritted teeth as a small piece of metal clashed onto the wooden flooring. /p  
p style="margin: 0px;" Souseiki sat on the floor beside him with her hand in his. She was speechless as she watched the invincible Shigaraki vocalize his pain for once. At that moment she realized the man she looked up to was merely a human. This didn't lessen her image of him; in fact, it made a fire churn in her stomach. She would somehow find a way to become stronger so nothing comes to harm him ever again./p  
p style="margin: 0px;" As Kurogiri finished dressing his wounds, Shigaraki sat up so Souseiki could sit down. He laid back down slowly and set his head in her lap with a low groan. "Want to tell me what happened?" Souseiki asked while her fingers lightly touched the fresh scratch marks on his neck. She frowned at the sight of the scratches while taking back her words, "Never mind. Rest up."/p 


	13. Chapter 12

Dying was never an option to the young villains and it never would be. Shigaraki swore he would reach his objective and Souseiki promised to stand by his side no matter the situation he dragged the trio in. Needless to say, Souseiki never thought she would have to work as a part-time nurse for the duo. For more than a week she had been dressing his wounds and helping him with daily tasks. Such chores were really no bother to her; she loved the man and his dreams, but fuck was he a child.

"I'm not taking a bath," he hissed at the woman. His attention was primarily focused on his computer screen that played a movie. The topic at hand had been covered throughout the day and was dropped occasionally by the brunette in hopes that the blue-haired man would eventually come to his senses.

Those senses never came though.

Like all the times prior, Souseiki walked into the common area and slumped against the bar and stared up and Kurogiri's bright eyes. "He stinks! How can he sit in his own filthy, Kuro?" She exclaimed rather exhausted by the daily discourse.

Kurogiri shrugged his shoulders and gave no reply. He knew how Shigaraki Tomura could be. Stubborn.

He was more than familiar with Shigaraki's bad hygiene, but he never really addressed it. It wasn't something occasional anyway. He just didn't bother bathing whenever he had been wounded. The man knew Shigaraki was afraid of opening wounds and the hot water hurting him more.

Shigaraki was a child.

The day had come and gone with Souseiki begging the man to shower and Kurogiri spent the day staying far from the two. He knew the pair could put up with one another without serious discourse, but this time around Souseiki sounded aggravated with the Shigaraki's behavior. He felt bad for her. So much so, that he decided to help her. "Start a bath, Yabe Souseiki," he whispered in a soft voice.

With the simple command, she rose to her feet and raised a brow. Kurogiri raised a gloved hand to his lips and motioned for her not to say a word. No questions ask, Souseiki moved to the bathroom and started a bath. Her hands dipped under the running water until it came out at just the right warmth before adding a few splashes of soap to create some bubbles. Soon the room was filled with steam and smelled of roses. She just knew Shigaraki would hate her body wash, but he was in desperate need of something scented.

The older man of the two might have just been a mind reader or omnipresent because without a signal Shigaraki could be heard shouting and cursing at the man. In a second there was a splash in the tub, Shigaraki was now in it fully clothed and fuming.

"Fuck this burns!" He proclaimed furious. His hands were set on either side of the tub ready to push himself out, but Souseiki stood behind him and quickly pressed her hands onto his shoulders. His group slipped with the little force and he slid back in, "Get off me!" He lashed out and held her hand in a death grip.

Souseiki looked down into his fierce, red eyes. They burned with hatred and venom as they looked into her own narrowed ones. "Too bad you can't decay your BO away. Huh, Tomura?" She teased while using her other hand to pull his away from her. "Just relax, the water isn't that hot."

Shigaraki huffed and sat in the water without moving. His stubbornness was impeccable, he didn't even bother picking up he loofah to scrub the grime away. "I'm not bathing," he proclaimed once more, but the brunette already knew that. Shigaraki felt her hands fall into the water and tickle his sides as her fingers wrestled with the fabric of his shirt.

"Raise your arms. You don't have to do anything," Souseiki signed in a weary tone. "Just sit there," she ordered. Once the black shirt was removed, she reached for her loofah and squirted rose-scented body wash onto it. As gently as she could, Souseiki ran the loofah over the man's chest and across his arms.

No matter how gentle she was Shigaraki found it in him the need to bitch about every stroke. "That hurts," he hissed and even flinched as the fabric scrubbed close to one of the bullet wounds.

With furrowed brows, the brunette huffed and scrubbed over it again with more force. This time it actually seemed to hurt him, "Stop being such a weenie! Men are such babies," she hissed and proceeded to grab his shampoo and pour some into the palm of her hand.

"Let me put a bullet or two in you, Souseiki, then you'll know how it feels," Shigaraki threatened while he closed his eyes the second her fingers ran through his hair. "I'm sure you'd be a weenie too."

Behind him, Souseiki scoffed and lightly yanked his hair back, "You wouldn't hurt me. Even if you did, I wouldn't be afraid of taking a bath," she replied with a dry laugh.

He clenched his jaw when she yanked his hair a second time. In return, he took hold of her wrist and yanked her forward with enough force to have her trip over the tub's edge and into the bubbly water headfirst. Shigaraki snickered as he watched her legs flail before finding her way up. "Don't pull my hair," he smirked, but this playful demeanor only warranted Souseiki to lunge forward and dunk him down into the water by the shoulders.

She watched him flail his arms and scratch at her wrists before finding his strength and shoving her off, "Don't push me into the water!" She roared in an angry tone as she huffed for air along with him.

The pair stared at each other as they regained their breath with sharp gasps for air. "Asshole," he chuckled to himself as his hand raised up to her face and pushed her hair back.

"Dick," Souseiki frowned while swatting him away. "Come here," she murmured as she took a small scoops of water and washed out the shampoo from his hair.

From outside the door, Kurogiri stood listening to the pair continue to bicker with one another. He had heard the splashed and made his way over swiftly. The mass dark cloud even pondered walking in but decided against it when he heard Shigaraki laugh.

Such an interaction would seem heinous to an outsider; however, to Kurogiri and Souseiki this was Shigaraki being playful. An act like that would infuriate Souseiki at the start, but she soon came to learn that the blue haired man didn't know any better. Being rough was his personality and she knew better than to scold him for it. He'd have enough assholes in his life, so she always took such playful abuse.

It would be rude to get mad at him.

Kurogiri soon retreated back into the common area once he heard the pair go quiet. He shouldn't hover over the kids.

Within the bathroom, Souseiki set down the loofah again and reached for his pants. This time, Shigaraki wasn't all too willing. His breath hitched as her nails lightly scratch at his skin. "I can finish up," he said quickly as he looked up at Souseiki, who had a beet-red face.

She nodded furiously and hopped out of the tub as her heartbeat in her chest. Souseiki knew she said he could just sit thereabout it had somehow slipped her mind that he had to be washed _everywhere_. "I'll bring you some clothes," she muttered and walked out of the bathroom. "Fucking, idiot," Souseiki scolded herself as she grabbed him some fresh clothes. It was normal to be flustered, of course, but she felt hopeless. She could shrug it off when she was younger, but now she's twenty and still acting like a child.

"Souseiki!" Called Shigaraki from the bathroom as she made her way down the hall.

Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at the man with a towel around his waist and knew she had to do something about what she was feeling, "Here."


End file.
